Cell-Derived Viral Genes Evolve under Stronger Purifying Selection in Rhadinoviruses.

ABSTRACT: Like many other large double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses, herpesviruses are known to capture host genes to evade host defenses. Little is known about the detailed natural history of such genes, nor do we fully understand their evolutionary dynamics. A major obstacle is that they are often highly divergent, maintaining very low sequence similarity to host homologs. Here we use the herpesvirus genus Rhadinovirus as a model system to develop an analytical approach that combines complementary evolutionary and bioinformatic techniques, offering results that are both detailed and robust for a range of genes. Using a systematic phylogenetic strategy, we identify the original host lineage of viral genes with high confidence. We show that although host immunomodulatory genes evolve rapidly

SUBMITTER: Aswad A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6146799 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature